The Three Kingdoms: Rise to Power Starting with Intercepting Liu Bei

Two days after Qin Xuan arrived in Huayin, Yuan Shao and his entourage, who were late in arriving, finally reached Huayin.

When they saw that Qin Xuan had captured Huayin, such a strategic stronghold, they were incredulous. After all, Qin Xuan only had cavalry and no infantry, so it was impossible for him to have captured Huayin so quickly.

In the end, Qin Xuan came up with a plausible excuse, and only then did they believe that it was all true.

Faced with the unfavorable situation of Qin Xuan's overwhelming military force, Duan Wei, the garrison commander of Huayin, decided to abandon the darkness and join the light in order to avoid the casualties of innocent civilians and to resolve the rift between him and Li Guo.

Upon seeing that Qin Xuan had captured Huayin without bloodshed, the Yuan brothers could no longer sit still. After only a short rest in Huayin for an afternoon, they hurriedly headed towards Chang'an to prevent Qin Xuan from snatching away the noble titles and great achievements they were determined to obtain.

"Mengde, don't forget our agreement!"

Qin Xuan, standing beneath Huayin City, gave Cao Cao a plea before his departure, hoping he wouldn't forget the agreement between the two of them.

After spending an extra half day in Huayin, Cao Cao led his troops toward Chang'an the following morning, fearing that he might miss out on any advantage.

"Don't worry, as long as the Yuan brothers don't become the first to storm Chang'an, everything will be fine!"

Before leaving, Cao Cao patted his chest and made a solemn promise, as if he, Cao Mengde, were a man of great integrity.

As Qin Xuan stood atop the city wall watching Cao Cao's army recede into the distance, Jia Xu appeared silently behind him like a ghost, gazing at the departing Cao Cao's army and uttering his question:

"My lord, why are you ordering me to hide and not meet these feudal lords?"

Jia Xu added at the end:

"Especially Cao Mengde!"

This was a question that Jia Xu couldn't understand. After the three feudal lords gathered in Huayin, Qin Xuan made him hide, and even his food and daily life were taken care of by special people, so that he could not have contact with any of the feudal lords.

He had asked Qin Xuan about this more than once, but the other party had always brushed him off. Now, this matter has been brought up again.

"Because I have a big plan, it's not your turn to make your appearance yet. You'll find out when the time comes. Hurry up and pack your bags. I'll send someone to take you to Xuzhou. You won't be staying in Huayin for long."

Qin Xuan turned his head and stared blankly at Jia Xu. After a long while, a mysterious smile appeared on his lips, and he said softly.

"Uh~~~!"

Just as Jia Xu was about to ask the reason, he saw Qin Xuan leave the city wall.

"They're becoming more and more unpredictable!"

Jia Xu watched Qin Xuan's departing figure, muttering to himself.

On the afternoon of the same day that Cao Cao's army departed, Qin Xuan led the Great Snow Dragon Cavalry and the Xiliang Army under Duan Wei to Chang'an, along with Meng Guang and his party of four.

As for Jia Xu, he and Duan Wei's families returned to Xuzhou under the protection of the Xuzhou cavalry, led by Qin Qiong.

Only a small number of troops were stationed in Huayin.

·············

Just as the four warlords set off for Chang'an one after another, warlords from all over the country responded to Yuan Shao's proclamation, with Liu Biao and Ma Teng being the most active.

In 194 AD, Ma Teng had a falling out with Li Jue over a personal matter. He joined forces with Ma Yu, Liu Fan, Zhong Shao, and Du Bing to plan an attack on Li Jue. However, the plot was exposed, and Zhong Shao and the others fled to Huaili.

Later, Han Sui led his troops to persuade Li Jue, but then joined forces with Ma Teng to attack him.

The two armies clashed fiercely at Changpingguan. Ma Teng and Han Sui were defeated by Li Jue's generals Fan Chou, Guo Si, and Li Li, and retreated to Liangzhou.

Now that he had this opportunity for revenge, how could he miss it? He led 10,000 troops from the Qian County (now Long County) area into the Sili Commandery and surrounded Chang'an from the west.

Liu Biao dispatched his general Cai Mao with 2,000 elite troops in response to Yuan Shao's call. They set out from Nan Commandery, passed through Nanyang Commandery, and marched into Sili to attack the Western Liang army.

After all, Liu Biao was a legitimate member of the Han imperial family, and if you really want to count, Emperor Xian of Han was his distant cousin. He had to put on a show, after all.

On the other side, after leaving Huayin, the Yuan brothers sped up their march, traveling day and night towards Chang'an. They finally arrived at the city walls on the second day after their departure and immediately began preparations for an attack.

Because of the escalating conflict between Li and Guo, the Xiliang troops stationed in various parts of Sili were all transferred to Chang'an. As a result, there were not many Xiliang troops in the area from Huayin to Chang'an. Therefore, when the Yuan brothers arrived in Chang'an, their troops did not suffer much loss.

The commotion caused by Yuan's army outside the city made Li and Guo, who were already fearful and uneasy, even more anxious.

Since returning to Chang'an, Li Jue was anxious to find Jia Xu to discuss countermeasures, but his subordinates told him that Jia Xu had disappeared without a trace, as had Jia Xu's family.

Li Jue immediately understood everything.

Jia Xu has fled!

Li Jue immediately flew into a rage, but fortunately Guo Si intervened in time to dissuade him. It didn't matter that Jia Xu had escaped; the most important thing now was what to do!

After a heated discussion, the two decided to fight Yuan Shao's allied forces to the last man.

As for surrendering, they had never considered it, nor dared to consider it.

As the two most wicked generals under Dong Zhuo, they accounted for a large portion of the atrocities committed by the Xiliang army.

The emperor and Yuan Shao and others would not let them off easily.

On the towering city of Chang'an, Li and Guo looked at the busy Yuan army camp in the distance with very solemn expressions. They had not expected the enemy to arrive so quickly.

"Brother Guo, it seems Duan Wei has already defected to Yuan Shao. Otherwise, how could they have arrived so quickly? Huayin City has high walls and deep defenses; it would take at least ten days to half a month to take it!"

Li Jue coldly cursed, in his estimation that Yuan's army could not possibly have arrived in Chang'an so quickly; the most reasonable explanation was that Duan Wei had betrayed and defected to the enemy.

"Hehe, what's the use of talking about this anymore? Now we can only face it positively. In my opinion, while Yuan's army is still establishing its foothold, we should let the Xiliang cavalry take the initiative to attack."

"Maybe we can disrupt their plans, giving us more time to prepare."

"good!"

Finally, Li and Guo ordered Li Xian and Fan Chou to each lead a thousand men to launch a proactive attack, taking advantage of the fact that Yuan's army was not yet firmly established, to make a good start and boost their own morale.

After receiving the order, Li Xian and Fan Chou led two thousand cavalrymen to launch a decisive attack on the Yuan army camp not far away.

Because they were all cavalry, and their attack range was short, the Yuan army soldiers responsible for guarding the area had no time to react. By the time they realized that the Xiliang army had launched a surprise attack, the enemy was already in front of them.

"Enemy attack!"

"Quickly, defend!"

In an instant, Yuan's army camp was thrown into utter chaos. The rampaging Xiliang cavalry swept through the camp as if it were empty, relentlessly reaping the heads of Yuan's soldiers.

The soldiers were in a panic and were completely unable to organize an effective resistance.

Some soldiers who tried to resist were pierced through the chest by spears that came hurtling towards them at high speed before they could even make a move. Blood gushed out, and they finally fell to the ground unwillingly.

"Yan Liang and Wen Chou, quickly organize a defense and wipe them out!"

Yuan Shao, protected by a large number of soldiers, was furious to see the Xiliang cavalry galloping freely in his camp. He immediately roared and ordered his favorite general to organize a defense and wipe out the enemy.

In fact, without Yuan Shao's orders, when the camp was attacked, Yan Liang and Wen Chou had already rushed out of the military tent with their weapons and engaged in a fierce battle with the Xiliang army.

As time passed, Yuan Jun's camp recovered from its initial panic and began to organize a powerful counterattack.

"Retreat! The entire army must retreat!"

As Yuan Jun gradually stabilized his position, the Xiliang army's offensive began to falter.

Seeing that Yuan Jun had organized an effective counterattack, Li Xian and Fan Chou realized that if they did not retreat, they might be surrounded. They immediately and decisively ordered a retreat back to Chang'an to avoid suffering greater losses.

"Damn it, I'm not going to let this go!"

Seeing the Xiliang army retreating rapidly, Yuan Shao, who witnessed everything in the camp, was furious and his eyes were about to burst.

The war hasn't even started yet, and I've already suffered such a huge loss. This deal is a huge rip-off.